EMPIRICAL CONSTRAINTS ON TROJAN COMPANIONS AND ORBITAL ECCENTRICITIES IN 25 TRANSITING EXOPLANETARY SYSTEMS
We present a search for Trojan companions to 25 transiting exoplanets. We use the technique of Ford & Gaudi, in which a difference is sought between the observed transit time and the transit time that is calculated by fitting a two-body Keplerian orbit to the radial-velocity data. This technique...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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American Astronomical Society
2010
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/51802 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4265-047X |
| _version_ | 1826198840699518976 |
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| author | Madhusudhan, Nikku Winn, Joshua Nathan |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Madhusudhan, Nikku Winn, Joshua Nathan |
| author_sort | Madhusudhan, Nikku |
| collection | MIT |
| description | We present a search for Trojan companions to 25 transiting exoplanets. We use the technique of Ford & Gaudi, in which a difference is sought between the observed transit time and the transit time that is calculated by fitting a two-body Keplerian orbit to the radial-velocity data. This technique is sensitive to the imbalance of mass at the L4/L5 points of the planet-star orbit. No companions were detected above 2σ confidence. The median 2σ upper limit is 56 M ⊕, and the most constraining limit is 2.8 M ⊕ for the case of GJ 436. A similar survey using forthcoming data from the Kepler satellite mission, along with the radial-velocity data that will be needed to confirm transit candidates, will be sensitive to 10-50 M ⊕ Trojan companions in the habitable zones of their parent stars. As a by-product of this study, we present empirical constraints on the eccentricities of the planetary orbits, including those which have previously been assumed to be circular. The limits on eccentricity are of interest for investigations of tidal circularization and for bounding possible systematic errors in the measured planetary radii and the predicted times of secondary eclipses. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:10:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/51802 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:10:48Z |
| publishDate | 2010 |
| publisher | American Astronomical Society |
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| spelling | mit-1721.1/518022022-09-27T17:39:02Z EMPIRICAL CONSTRAINTS ON TROJAN COMPANIONS AND ORBITAL ECCENTRICITIES IN 25 TRANSITING EXOPLANETARY SYSTEMS Madhusudhan, Nikku Winn, Joshua Nathan Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research Winn, Joshua Nathan Madhusudhan, Nikku Winn, Joshua Nathan We present a search for Trojan companions to 25 transiting exoplanets. We use the technique of Ford & Gaudi, in which a difference is sought between the observed transit time and the transit time that is calculated by fitting a two-body Keplerian orbit to the radial-velocity data. This technique is sensitive to the imbalance of mass at the L4/L5 points of the planet-star orbit. No companions were detected above 2σ confidence. The median 2σ upper limit is 56 M ⊕, and the most constraining limit is 2.8 M ⊕ for the case of GJ 436. A similar survey using forthcoming data from the Kepler satellite mission, along with the radial-velocity data that will be needed to confirm transit candidates, will be sensitive to 10-50 M ⊕ Trojan companions in the habitable zones of their parent stars. As a by-product of this study, we present empirical constraints on the eccentricities of the planetary orbits, including those which have previously been assumed to be circular. The limits on eccentricity are of interest for investigations of tidal circularization and for bounding possible systematic errors in the measured planetary radii and the predicted times of secondary eclipses. William S. Edgerly Innovation Fund 2010-02-24T14:25:46Z 2010-02-24T14:25:46Z 2009-03 2008-11 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/SubmittedJournalArticle 0004-637X http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/51802 Madhusudhan, N., and Joshua N. Winn. “EMPIRICAL CONSTRAINTS ON TROJAN COMPANIONS AND ORBITAL ECCENTRICITIES IN 25 TRANSITING EXOPLANETARY SYSTEMS.” The Astrophysical Journal 693.1 (2009): 784-793. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4265-047X en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/693/1/784 Astrophysical Journal Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Astronomical Society Josh Winn |
| spellingShingle | Madhusudhan, Nikku Winn, Joshua Nathan EMPIRICAL CONSTRAINTS ON TROJAN COMPANIONS AND ORBITAL ECCENTRICITIES IN 25 TRANSITING EXOPLANETARY SYSTEMS |
| title | EMPIRICAL CONSTRAINTS ON TROJAN COMPANIONS AND ORBITAL ECCENTRICITIES IN 25 TRANSITING EXOPLANETARY SYSTEMS |
| title_full | EMPIRICAL CONSTRAINTS ON TROJAN COMPANIONS AND ORBITAL ECCENTRICITIES IN 25 TRANSITING EXOPLANETARY SYSTEMS |
| title_fullStr | EMPIRICAL CONSTRAINTS ON TROJAN COMPANIONS AND ORBITAL ECCENTRICITIES IN 25 TRANSITING EXOPLANETARY SYSTEMS |
| title_full_unstemmed | EMPIRICAL CONSTRAINTS ON TROJAN COMPANIONS AND ORBITAL ECCENTRICITIES IN 25 TRANSITING EXOPLANETARY SYSTEMS |
| title_short | EMPIRICAL CONSTRAINTS ON TROJAN COMPANIONS AND ORBITAL ECCENTRICITIES IN 25 TRANSITING EXOPLANETARY SYSTEMS |
| title_sort | empirical constraints on trojan companions and orbital eccentricities in 25 transiting exoplanetary systems |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/51802 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4265-047X |
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